Die holding and lubricating mechanism



1952 w. E. ROGERS ET AL DIE HOLDING AND LUBRICATING MECHANISM Filed April 1, 1946 INVENTOR.S

d S m Y E N E R GY 0 W w H 1A mm mm N Y B Patented Jan. 8, 1952 me.aotnisslwntosmoumo; 1yLEICHANISIYI Walter? E; Rogers; Stlow, and Norman H; Nye

Cu-yah'oga; Falls, Ohio, assignorstaThe-Vauglin, Machinery- Company,

emfmretiqni o 219:

urahnsa. Falls, Qhio a.

Agnlfcation April 1-, 1946; SerialfNo, 653.762

.6. Qla-imsl (c1. ens-4.9;);-

The present invention relates toimprovements in a wire draw benchorthe like and more" par ticularly to the die holding and lubricating mechanism thereof.

As is well known inthe drawing of wire it is essential that a lubricant be supplied to the wire at the pointwhere itpasses through a. die holei n order to prevent excessive heating of the wire and of the die. Lubrication isalso essential to produce a scratch-free; smooth, bright surface on the wire and to produce a wire ofuniform size. One commonmethodoflubricating is to flood the wire or the die with lubricantbut. ofcourse, such method necessitates the use of a considerable excess of lubricant in order to insure the" desired results. On the other hand, if' afine stream, or jet oflubricant as delivered through a small ori ee r used t edu e. suc e c ss. either expensive filters would have to be employed to prevent foreign matter from clogging such orifice or else such clogging. would haye,.t o be contended with, and. accompanied by periodic stopping of, the, drawing op ration to. ear ny logge Q I r fices.

Accordingly. itis-one principal. objechof; this nt on o o d a. imp o iv o ie hold me and lubnicatinezde iceh v n a mall-o ifice.- thereinfon co du tingv a-fine st e m o. b. eent to, a d awhich or fice. can e eared; o t a ill withina fraction; o a. secondsimnln b fl ckin the device out of die en e ne. po itio wi hout he necessity f, inter p in th co t nuous d awi g. pera i n- It is: anot erv bje t o thi nv ntion. in 10.-

vi e e. wh ch; a sinsler e dine. means is Operative to hold ie seated a: supmrt therefor. and; to maintain. the. orifice; clearin means associated therewith, in an inoperative position,

A ditional objects an dvan ages. ot-v the nnt nn will-become apnarentas; theifo ew needee se ipti n-i p oceeds.

To the accomplishment of, the;- inresoine: and.

one of the: die holding and lubricating. 656371685211 longitudinal cross section;

Fig. 2' is a transverse verticali cross section. of the draw-benchand one of the die holding-and: lubricating devices taken along: line 2i ..2: of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end-view. 0t oneof: thedie holding and lubricating devices.- alone asviewed fromothe top of Fig. 1 andv showing: the: die supportand die dotted; and

Fig. 4- is afront elevationview ofa portion of the draw bench with one; of: the die: holding and: lubricating devices in longitudinal c'rossisection and showing such-deviceiin. a position. out ofiene gagement with the die and with. the orificezclearing means projected. through an. orifice in: such device? The draw bench illustrated in the drawing is of the continuous type. wherein. the: wire b'eing. drawn is successively drawn:v through a series of dies and is gradually reduced. in cross section size without the necessty. of-=-performnge one reduction in size. and after each suchreduction removing the completed; coil and setting. up such coil on another; drawbench for performing a succeeding reduction. Thenumberof reduc tions required; of course; depends:- on the total reduction in size and the proper-ties desired in the finished wire. 'In such continuous draw benches itis necessary to provide a=power rotated block or drum behind eachdie with the wire wound thereabout asufiicient number o'f times-so that the drum can frictionally draw the wire through the hole in the-nextprecedingdie' and;

of course, each drum mustbe' driven faster than the. next preceding oneinorde'r to comnensatefor the elongation of" the wire as it isbeing drawn through the dies and being reduced in cross section size. While in the drawing there is shown a draw bench of the continuous; type, it; is to be understood that the die holdingand; lubricating device can be used with equal facility in single draft draw benches wherein the wire is sub jected only to one reduction.

In detail the draw' 'benchz herein illustrated comprises a-vertically disposed base portion I" which rotatablysupports; one or more power driven blocks or drums 2 and which has" projecting therefrom aseries of'supports 3 one preceding each drum 2 and each, being provided with a die seat or die receiving; recess therein for a die 5. Each die Shas a flared'hole Btheiein: of-- the usual formproviding: a; smoothing out see tie -1 .1 a" bea in section a d cou ter unk. as. tion and; in ammo-reduction draw tench such lowing drum 2.

Below the base portion I is a lubricant containing manifold I which has through one wall thereof several aligned openings disposed substantially directly below the supports .3,--such openings each having a die holding and lubricating member 8 pivotally mounted therein; In the present case such pivotal mounting is accomplished by forming one end of the member 8 with a cylindrical extension 9 projected through such openinga'nd 4 the main body of the rod engages member 8 and thereby limits movement of the rod to preclude the possibility of overstressing the spring 15 and also to stop or substantially stop the flow of lubricant from the orifice. When member 8 is released,- itwill, through ;the action of spring l6, quickly. snap back to its die holding and lubrieating position. Thus, it is evident that such clearing of a clogged orifice can be accomplished very quickly without interrupting the continuous drawing operation.

To facilitate insertion of a die 5 to a seated position in support 3, the member 8 is provided v with aface 19 at its die engaging end, which terminating in a shoulder l0 having a face there-- of adjacent to and overlying the outer wall of the-manifold]. Member 8 is held-against axial movement relative to such opening by means of a split'retainer ring ll engaged in a groove adjacent the end of such cylindrical extension 9, such ring I l overlying the inner wall of the manifold I.

Member 8 is hollow and has at its upper-end an orifice l2 directed upwardly and inclined toward the die hole 6 when said member is in die engaging position. Coaxial with such orifice l2 in member 8 is a passage I3 in which a rod I 4 is slidably mounted, said rod including a reduced end I5 which is projectible through orifice l2 for clearing the same. Inorder to normally maintain the rod end 15 out of projected position through the orifice l2 a spring I6 is provided which surrounds rod [4 and bears againstmember Bend the shoulder. defined by the enlarged head' I! of the rod. In order that the spring I6 will also function to yieldably hold the die 5 in its support'3, the outer end of each rod is arranged to bear against a fixed support l8 projecting from the front wall of the manifold 1. Thus, as shown in Fig. l, the spring l6 urges the rod l4 against support 18 and the upper end of member 8 against the die 5 thereby holding the end l5 of the rod away from orifice l2 and holding die 5inits support 3.

- When the parts are inthe position shown in Fig. 1,,the wire may be threaded through each die in the usual manner and wrapped about each drum 2 several times and drawing of the wire commenced. At the same time, lubricant is forced'under pressure from manifold 1 through member 8 and out through orifice I2 into the die and ontothe wire enteringthe same. :The lubricant so supplied is in liquid form and may be anyone of several, such as oil, oil mixed with meal or flour, or soap water. It'is to be understood that the lubricant thus discharged from orifice Ill is collected in a suitable trough not shown and it is recirculated by a pump back into ilranifold l and thence out again through orifice Should oneflof the orifices l2 become. clogged 3 during the operation of the draw bench, a quick movement of the member 8-to the position shown in Fig. a will clear, the same. In moving the member 8 to the position shown in Fig. 4, the re duced end l5 of the rod 14 is forced completely through'the orifice 1.2 to clear the same of whatever' foreign matter may have caused the clogging thereof. It is to; be noted that when the reduced end I5 is projected through the orifice l 2, its. sli zii li rllssi see sash-requires s and face is inclined relative to the face of the support 3as shown in Fig. 3. When no die is seated in said support, member 8 will be urgedby spring l6 into engagement with support 3. In order to insert a die 5 all that it is necessary to do is to force it laterally between the inclined face 19 of member 8 and support 3 whereby the resulting wedge action against inclined face 19 forces member 8 away from support 3. When the die 5 is in a position opposite the recess or seat i in support 3, the spring [6 will yieldably press the die into engagement with the bottom wall of such recess or seat. Thus, it is apparent that by reason of the inclined face [9, the insertion of a die into operative position in a support 3 is made a simple one-hand operation.

-In the art of wire drawing and particularly in continuous wire drawing involving successively drawing wire through a series of dies 5 having die holes 6 of progressively reducing size it is conventional practice to make the successive dies of progressively reducing thickness as best shown in Fig. l. Now, with the pivot axes of the members B disposed laterally of the associated die 5 and generally in the plane thereof as shown, there are realized several advantages which are not obtainable with the inclined sliding type of member such' as'disclosed in the copending application of :Edwin J. McIlvried, Serial No. 632,919, now Patent No. 2,502,471, granted under date of April 4, 1950, for example, viz.:

(1) Since the axis of each member 8 is generally in the plane of the associated die, the pressure exerted by the member 8 in holding the associateddie 5 in its support 3 is in a direction generally parallel to the die hole axis and transverse to "the die seat. This further assures that each die will be held in its support bypressure exerted-nearthe center thereof regardless of'its thickness, the swinging of theassociated member 8 not materially shifting the die engaging portion thereof laterally when the pivot axis is lo cated generally in the plane of the die.

(2) When the member 8 is retracted as in Fig. 4 for the'purpose of manipulating or inspecting the die 5, the lubricant discharge orifice is not directed at the die hole 6 whereby even in instances where the clean-out rod I4 is not employed it is unnecessary to shutoff the lubricant supply or to otherwise stop the fiow of lubricant. I

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may-:be employed, -change being' ina'de as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such-be employed.

,We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as'our invention: 9 s

1. In a die holding and lubricating mechanism, the combination of a support providing a' die seat, ,a.:di e;in such-seat, a retainer formed e'with azrpassageizfor supplyinglubricant" to vsaid- -die,

means supporting said retainer for movement toward and away from said die, means yieldably urging said retainer toward and into engagement with said die for exerting pressure on said die for holding it in such seat, and means operative to clear such passage in response to movement of said retainer away from and out of engagement with said die, said last named means including a rod in said retainer, and means axially constraining said rod from movement relative to said support, said rod being so disposed relative to such passage that movement of said retainer toward and away from said die effects positioning of said rod into and out of such passage respectively.

2. In a die holding and lubricating mechanism, the combination of a support providing a die seat, a die in such seat, a retainer formed with a passage for supplying lubricant to said die, means supporting said retainer for movement to- I ward and away from said die, means yieldably urging said retainer toward and into engagement with said die for exerting pressure on said die for holding it in such seat, and means operative to clear such passage in response to movement of said retainer away from and out of engagement with said die, said last named means including a second support, a rod axially slidable in said retainer and provided with an inner end axially aligned with such passage and an outer end engaging said second support, said supports being so spaced apart that movement of said retainer toward and away from said die effects positioning of said rod into and out of such passage respectively.

3. In a die holding and lubricating mechanism, the combination of a support providing a die seat, a die in such seat, a retainer formed with a passage for supplying lubricant to said die, means supporting said retainer for movement toward and away from said die, means yieldably urging said retainer toward and into engagement with said die for exerting pressure on said die for holding it in such seat, and means operative to clear such passage in response to movement of said retainer away from and out of engagement with said die, said last named means including a second support, a rod axially slidable in said retainer and provided with an inner end axially aligned with such passage, and an outer end engaging said second support, said supports being so spaced apart that movement of said retainer toward and away from said die effects positioning of said rod into and out of such passage respectively, said rod and passage being formed with portions engageable with one another to close such passage in response to movement of said retainer away from and out of engagement with said die.

4. In a die holding and lubricating mechanism, the combination of spaced apart supports, one of said supports providing a die seat facing generally toward the other of said supports, a die in such seat, a retainer between said supports provided with a passage for supplying lubricant to said die, means supporting said retainer for movement between said supports toward and away from said die, a rod axially slidable in said retainer having an outer end adjacent said other of said supports and an inner end co-axial with such passage, a resilient element interposed between said retainer and rod urging the former toward and into engagement with said die for exerting pressure for holding said die in such seat and the latter with its outer end in engagement with said other of said supports and with its inner end axially spaced from such passage, the inner end of said rod being so disposed relative to such passage that movement of said retainer away from and out of engagement with said die effects entry of such inner end of said rod into such passage.

5. In a die holding and lubricating mechanism, the combination of spaced apart supports, one of said supports providing a die seat facing generally toward the other of said supports, a die in such seat, a retainer between said supports provided with a passage for supplying lubricant to said die, means supporting said retainer for movement between said supports toward and away from said die, a rod axially slidable in said retainer having an outer end adjacent said other of said supports and an inner end co-axial with such passage, a resilient element interposed between said retainer and rod urging the former toward said die to a position retaining said die in such seat and the latter with its outer end in engagement with said other of said supports and with its inner end axially spaced from such passage, the inner end of said rod being so disposed relative to such passage that movement of said retainer away from such position retaining such die in such seat effects entry of such inner end of said rod into such passage.

6. In a die retaining and lubricating mechanism for wire drawing apparatus, the combination of a support providing a die seat, a die in such seat formed with a face opposed to such seat and with a die hole transversely through such face, a retainer formed with a portion thereof disposed to one side of such die hole and adapted to engage such die face to hold said die in its seat and with a passage directed at the die hole for supplying lubricant to said die, means supporting said retainer for pivotal movement about an axis located in radially spaced relation to the die engaging portion of said retainer and generally in the plane of such die face whereby said retainer may be swung about such axis (iirectly toward and away from said die with the latter disposed between the die engaging portion of said retainer and such seat, and spring means acting on said retainer to urge the die engaging portion thereof toward and into engagement with said die for exerting pressure on said die for holding it in such seat.

WALTER E. ROGERS. NORMAN H. NYE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,403,850 Dingiroglou Jan. 17, 1922 1,972,746 McIlvried Sept. 4, 1934 2,096,807 Hulbert Oct. 26, 1937 2,502,471 McIlvried r. 4, 1950 

